I think (and I am sure people will maybe not agree - and I am okay with that) that the owners of that poor pony should be reported to AC just as much as ones with the ribs and hips sticking out. I have struggled with my weight as an adult and know that it is much easier and healthier when I am thinner (at least I have Oprah!) than when I am heavier.

I saw a beautiful female GSD at the vet when I was with Nina once - she looked just like her - same size, but not same weight. Nina was 66# but looked bigger, this poor thing was 124# - I waited to go into the exam room until I saw what came up. Her owner was all proud. Made me sick.

Wow...horses are not meant to be shaped like pigs. How very sad. I try to keep my guy on the thin side during the winter. It hurt me to watch him walk last year. He was so stiff. That poor pony is going to have so many problems later.

I bought a gelding once that was what I called Pig Fat. He was very docile when he was fat, I put him on a diet much to his dismay. I have to say he didn't like the diet plan and got pretty nasty for a while. But once the weight was off and I started working him and conditioning him, he found it was a lot easier to move and got pretty handy for a big horse. When I sold him and the buyer came to look at him he put on a pretty display of running and his agility. The owner asked 3 times what his age was and I had to show him the papers so he would believe me. He was 10 and acting like a 4 year old. I told him that the horse had spend most of his life being pig fat and when I trimmed the weight off of him he felt good and liked to move.

GRRRR. That horse in the photo is a Norwejian Fjord-- yes they are indeed easy keepers, but getting that weight off would be easy! Guess they want her placid for a child to ride. NOT fair at all!

They are selling the horse as great for kids and such. Fjords are supposed to be shorter and stockier fellows - not tub o' lards I wonder if the Fjord got some weight off if he would be friskier. I've seen extremely emaciated horses sold as "perfect kids horse" only to have them gain weight (on a low protein diet) and be spitfires NOT suitable for kids.

I get a bit of a psycho rant going on in my head when I see little kids that are really heavy. It just sets them up to have weight issues as an adult, and I hate to see the deck being stacked against them, healthwise.

But it's almost worse when it's an animal, because they can't ever grow up and move out and get healthier.

People with ribsy dogs often get turned it to AC. Hasn't happened to me, YET, but getting weight ON an animal is often much harder than taking it off.

I try to keep my critters in an ideal weight range, but I tend toward them being thinner rather than thicker because it is healthier.

However, when I have a dog who may be pregnant, and they put on weight because I feed them for pregnancy, and they turn out not to be pregnant. Getting that weight off them is easy. Relatively easy.

I guess I just do not see much of an excuse to let an animal that you care about be seriously overweight, but I can see dogs being underweight without there actually being overt neglect in the picture.